Presealing flush machine for incandescent lamp bulbs



Dec 17, 1957 v l.. l.. ARMSTRONG ETAL 2,816,579

PRESEALING FLUSH MACHINE FOR INCANDESCENT LAMP BULBS I Filed Feb. 27,1953 2 sheets-sheet 1 .5m/Wma? .Enf/Na Mam/Ms N 19 a INVENTORS 5 43 50 IZ4 C ATTORNEY L. l.. ARMSTRONG ETAL 2,816,579 PRESEALING FLUSHMACHINEYFOR INCANDESCENT LAMP'BULBS l Dec. 17, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Feb. 27. 1953 55u Efrnm/NE United States Patent O PRESEALING FLUSHMACHINE FOR INCANDES- CENT LAMP BULBS Law L. Armstrong, Little Rock,Ark., and George Meister, Newark, and Stanley A. Lopeuski, PomptonPlains, N. J., assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, EastPittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 27,1953, Serial No. 339,402

5 Claims. (Cl. 141-92) The present invention relates to the manufactureof incandescent electric lamps and, more particularly, to a presealingflush machine for incandescent lamp bulbs.

In the manufacture of incandescent lamps a present trend in the industryis for higher production rates and improved lamp quality. ln aconventional lamp manufacturing group, the bulb and a mount are fed tothe sealing portion of the Sealex machine where the bulb neck and mountstein flare are joined together. The sealed lamp is then automaticallytransferred to the exhaust portion of the Sealex machine, where aplurality of alternate flushing and evacuation operations are performedto remove air therefrom, a nal argon-nitrogen fill is introduced intothe lamp, and the lamp is tipped-olf. The bulb is then transferred to avertical cooling conveyor which anneals the exhausted lamp andtransports it to a standard basing machine.

it has been found advantageous, according to our invention, to provide apresealing flush machine for incandescent lamp bulbs prior to thesealing operation on the Sealex machine. During this presealing flush ortreatment, the water vapor and other deleterious gases are removed fromthe incandescent lamp bulb and the bulb is lled with an inert gas beforea hot transfer to the sealing portion of the Sealex machine, thuspreventing any undersirable oxidation of the getter and metal mountparts during sealing.

Our presealing flush machine is provided with a plurality of heads whichindex from station to station. The bulbs are loaded on the heads,etched, heated to approximately 450 C., and continuously flushed witheither nitrogen or air-heated to a temperature above 250 C., and nallynitrogen-filled prior to their hot transfer to the sealing portion of a`conventional Sealex machine.

Further, we modify the sealing portion of the Sealex machine so thatnitrogen flows thru the unsealed lamp in a plurality of preliminarytire-heating positions (to prevent oxidation of internal parts) and intothe sealed lamp at a seal-molding position (to form the seal and furtherprotect the cleaned parts). The conventional exhaust portion of theSealex machine is then capable of a higher production rate and producesan improved quality of product due to the prior removal of Water vaporand deleterious gases from the bulbs during presealing flush thereof andmaintenance of clean mount parts during sealing.

ln its general aspect, the present invention has the object of providinga presealing Hush machine for incandescent lamp bulbs which removeswater vapor and other vdeleterious gases from said bulbs prior tosealing and which fills the heated bulbs with an inert gas prior to ahot transfer to the sealing portion of an adjacentl modified standardSealex machine.

A general object of the present invention is a preseal- Aing ilushmachine which increases the production rate of Sealex machines andimproves the quality of incandescent lamps manufactured thereby.

Other objects of the present invention will become 2,816,579 PatentedDec. 17, 1957 A1ce apparent to those skilled in the art to which itappertains as the description thereof proceeds.

With reference to the drawings, in which like numerals of referenceindicate similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan of an incandescent lamp manufacturinggroup employing the presealing flush machine and modified Sealex machineof our invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View of the heating and hot-air flushingmeans employed in our presealing flush machine.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the sealing portion of aconventional Sealex machine, modiiied to include our invention, andshowing the nitrogen flushing means in the preliminary sealing stations.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to Figure l, a presealingflush machine of our invention, is designated by the reference numeral10. Adjacent said machine 10 is a modied standard Sealex machine 12, auda. standard basing machine 14.

This presealing flush machine 10 for incandescent lamp bulbs 16, shownin detail in Fig. 2, has a rotatable turret 18 which is provided with raplurality, twelve in the showing of Fig. l, of presealing flush or bulbholding heads 19. The turret 18 carries an axial bushing 20 and isrotatable on a vertical shaft 21. It is indexed from station to stationby a conventional mechanism (not shown).

At either one of the Stations l and 2 (Fig. l), the bulbs are manuallyor automatically loaded onto a head 19. The bulbs 16 are suitably etchedwith a desired insignia at Station 3. From Station 4 to Station 11, thebulbs 16 on the heads 19 are indexed through an arcuate tunnel oven 22,shown also in Fig. 2, wherein the bulbs 16 are heated to a temperatureof about 450 C. and continuously ushed with either nitrogen or airpreheated to about 250J C. by a flushing mechanism 24, shown in Fig. 2.

Head

Each of the heads 19, one of which is shown in Fig. 2, is mounted on ahollow headed shaft 26 which rotates in a bushing 28 carried by theturret 18. A washer 30 is provided between the head of the shaft 26 andthe turret 18. A drive pulley 34 and a Washer 36 carried on the bottomof the shaft 26 prevent undesired upward displacement of said shaft withrespect to the turret 18. Suitable driving means (not shown) engages thepulley 34 for rotating the head 19.

An air delivery pipe 38 (Fig. 2) fixed to the head of the shaft 26,extends from above said head to below the pulley 34. The upper end ofthe pipe 38 carries a tapered bulb holder 40 provided with an axial hole42. Said hole receives the pipe 38 for delivering heated air therefromto a bulb 16 on the holder 40. A groove 44 in the outerface of theholder 40, is provided for exhausting the mixture of heated air andreleased vapor.

Oven

Flushing system The lower end of each air delivery pipe 38 (Fig. 2)terminates at a connector 48 in which said pipe is free vto rotate. Fromeach connector 48, an air pipe 50 of the flushing mechanism 24 extendsupwardly through the turret 18. It then extends horizontally inwardthrough a turret cover 52 to a lower groove 54 of a lower element 58 ofan air valve 5,9. Both the cover 52 `and the lower element 58 areaffixed to the turret as by bolts, shown in Fig. 2.

An upper air valve element 60, atlixed to the shaft 21, is provided withan upper groove 62 which is complementary to the groove 54 and extendsfrom Station "4 to Station 11. A pipe 64 extends from the upper groove62 to a suitable supply (not shown) of either nitrogen or air preheatedto about 250 C. A nut 66 on the upper threaded end of the shaft 21compresses a spring 68 against an annular spring plate 70, thusmaintaining an air tight seal between the valve elements 58 and 60.

The Sealex machine 12, a portion of which is shown in detail in Fig. 3,comprises an upper or `sealing turret 72, a lower or exhaust turret 74,and an upper rotary valve portion 76, all rotatably mounted on a shaft77, similar to the shaft 21, shown in Fig. 2, of the presealing flushmachine 10. A stationary lower valve portion 78 is xed to said shaft inair-tight engagement with said upper valve portion 76.

Sealing exhaust The sealing turret 72 (Fig. 3) carries a plurality,sixteen in the present embodiment, of sealing heads 80, (Figs. l and 3).Each of the heads 80 has a hollow mount pin sealing shaft 82 which isvertically reciprocable in and rotatable within a headed journal 84.This journal 84 rotates in a bushing 86 carried by the turret 72 and hasa drive pulley 88 at its lower portion. The head of the journal 84 andthe pulley 88 prevent undesired vertical displacement of the journal 84with respect to the turret 72.

The lower end of the mount pin shaft 82 (Fig. 3) carries a cam follower90 for engagement with a cam track 92 on the exhaust turret 74, thuscausing appropriate vertical reciprocating motion of the shaft 82. Anitrogen-flush line 94 extend-s from the upper rotary valve portion 76through the exhaust turret 74 to the interior of the mount pin shaft 82.The upper end of the shaft 82 is decreased in cross-section to form amount pin portion 96 for receiving a mount 98. A mount is thus held inplace with respect to a treated lamp bulb 16, secured in a plurality ofbulb-holding jaws 100, (only one of which is shown in Fig. 3) forsealing by a plurality of stationary burners 102.

Exhaust portion As shown in Fig. 3, the exhaust turret 74 is providedwi-th a plurality of conventional exhaust heads or compression rubberassemblies 104 for the exhaust of lamps previously sealed on the sealingportion of the machine 12, (Fig. 3). An inert gas supply line 108extends from the valve portion 76 through a cam actuated air valve 110to each f the heads 104. Each head 104 is provided with a rotatablecollar 105 lhaving an arm 112 for manual operation or for engagement byan actuating member (not shown) and an arm 114 for the engaging of theoperating member of the valve 110, as shown, for example, in U. S.Patent No. 2,254,905, entitled, Exhaust Machine and Method of ProtectingExhaust Systems dated September 2, 1941 to D. Mullan and assigned to thesame assignee as the present application. A vacuum supply line 116connects the head 104 to the upper rotary valve portion 76. A pipe 118in the lower stationary valve portion 78 connects the vacuum line 116 tothe pumping system (not shown) of the Sealex machine 12.

Operation A lamp bulb 16, to be exhausted before sealing, is positionedon a bulbl holder 40 of a bulb holding head 19 (Fig. 2) at eitherStation 1" or Station "2 of the presealing ush machine 10. At Station 3the bulb 16 is suitably etched. The bulb 16 then is rotated .as itenters the 4 oven l2,2 at Station 4, and is uniformly heated by theplurality of burners 46 (Fig. 2) disposed therein. The temperature ofthe bulb 16 is gradually raised until it reaches 450 C. before, forexample, entering Station 6. This temperature is maintained on the bulbfrom station to station thereon thru Station l1."

Simultaneously, with the arrival of the bulb 16 at Station 4 (Fig. l),hot nitrogen or air preheated to 250 C. ows thru the supply line 64, theair valve 59, the line 50, the delivery pipe 38, the bulb 16 on the bulbholder 40, and out through the exhaust groove 44 on the side face of thebulb holder 40. It will be understood that the heated air owing throughthe rotating bulb 16 from Station 4 thru Station 10, removes water vaporand deleterious gases now released from the bulb by the heating oven 22.

At Stations 1l and l2 a nitrogen flush is given the bulb 16 to providean inert atmosphere therein during the hot transfer (Fig. 1) byconventional automatic means (not shown) from Station 12 of thepresealing exhaust machine 10 to Station S3 of the sealing portion ofthe Sealex machine 12.

A mount 98 is positioned on the mount pin portion 96 of a sealing head(Fig. 3), at either Station S1 or Station S2 of the sealing portion ofthe sealex machine 12. At Station 53, as hereinbefore mentioned, aflushed bulb 16 having a nitrogen fill is transferred in the hotcondition over the position mount 98 and onto the bulb holding jaws ofthe head 80.

At Stations S4, 85, and 86, as shown in Figure 1, and the remainingsealing Stations S7 thru 512, the head 80 is rotated. Nitrogen flowsfrom a suitable source (not shown) through the upper rotatable valveportion 76 of the sealex machine 12, line 94, the hollow mount pinsealing shaft 82, the tubulation and exhaust hole of the mount 98, thebulb 16 and out through the open neck thereof. It will be understoodthat this flush is employed to avoid contaminating the clean bulb 16 andto prevent oxidation of the metal parts of the lamp mount 98 during thepreliminary heating of the neck portions of the bulb and flare of themount 98 by the burners 102.

From Station S7 thru Station S12 the rotating bulbs 16 and lamp mounts98 are sealed together by the burners 102. At Station $13, the sealmolding station, nitrogen is again admitted in the manner describedbefore but at a higher pressure, to the now sealed bulb and mo'unt,'hereinafter referred to as the lamp 106, to form the seal in a sealmolding device (not shown). At Stations S14 and S15 the sealed lamp 106is annealed. The lamp 106 is transferred at Station S16 by conventionalautomatic transfer means (not shown) to a head 104 on the exhaust turret74 at Station E1."

At Stations E2," E3 (Fig. l), etc., through 15.13, the inert gas supplyvalve is Closed and lamp 106 is evacuated through the vacuum supply line116, the upper rotatable valve portion 76 and the pipe 118 in thestationary lower valve portion 78. Between Stations E2" and 153, etc.(and while the exhaust turret 74 is indexing) the arm 112 on the collar105 is turned manually or by an actuating member (not shown) thusopening the valve 110 by means of the operating arm 114 and admittingnitrogen or an inert gas on the ily through the upper rotatable valveportion 76, the inert gas supply line 108, valve 110, the compressionrubber assembly 104, and into the lamp 106.

It will be understood that this nitrogen or inert gas flush dilutes anydeleterious matter contained in the lamp 106. At Station E14 the nowexhausted lamp 106 is given a final inert gas fill, suitablyargon-nitrogen. At Station E15 the lamp is tipped-off and thentransferred by conventional automatic means at Station E16 to a standardvertical cooling conveyor. From the conveyor the lamp 106 is transferredto a standard basing machine 14 and after basing the nished lamp istested and packed.

Although a preferred embodiment of our invention has been disclosed, itwill be understood that modications may be made within the spirit andscope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A presealing flush machine for incandescent lamp bulbs having a fixedpedestal, a rotatable turret on said pedestal indexable from station tostation, a plurality of presealing treating heads on said turret forsupporting bulbs thereon, each of said heads being provided with exhaustmeans for connecting the interior of a bulb supported on said head withthe atmosphere, means for rotating said heads, an oven above said headsextending along substantially the periphery of said turret, and allushing mechanism for delivering preheated air to said heads throughsaid bulbs and hence to the atmosphere.

2. A presealing flush machine for incandescent lamp bulbs having a fixedpedestal, a rotatable turret on said pedestal indexable from station tostation, a plurality of presealing treating heads on said turret forsupporting bulbs thereon, each of said heads being provided with meansto provide clearance between said supported bulbs and said head forconnecting the interior of said positioned bulb with the atmosphere,means for rotating said heads, an oven above said heads extending alongsubstantially the periphery of said turret, and a flushing mechanism fordelivering preheated nitrogen to said heads through said bulbs and henceto the atmosphere.

3. In combination for a presealing flush machine for incandescent lampbulbs having a fixed pedestal, a rotatable turret on said pedestalindexable from station to station, a plurality of presealing treatingheads on said turret, each of said heads comprising a headed hollowshaft rotatable in said turret, a hot air delivery pipe in said shaft,and a hollow bulb holding head on said pipe provided with an exhaustgroove on the outerface thereof, and a flushing mechanism for deliveringpreheated air to said heads through said bulbs and hence to theatmosphere.

4. In combination for a presealing flush machine for incandescent lampbulbs having a fixed pedestal, a rotatable turret on said pedestalindexable from station to Station, a plurality of presealing treatingheads on said turret, leach of said heads comprising a headed hollowshaft rotatable in said turret, a hot air delivery pipe in said shaft,and a hollow bulb holding head on said pipe provided with an exhaustgroove on the outerface thereof, and a flushing mechanism for deliveringpreheated nitrogen to said heads through said bulbs and hence to theatmosphere.

5. In combination for a presealing lush machine for incandescent lampbulbs having a fixed pedestal, a rotatable turret on said pedestalindexable from station to station, a plurality of presealing treatingheads on said turret, each of said heads comprising a headed hollowshaft rotatable in said turret, a hot air delivery pipe in said shaft,and a hollow bulb holding head on said pipe provided with an exhaustgroove on the outerface thereof, and a ushing mechanism for deliveringheated air to said head through said bulbs and hence to the atmosphere,said flushing mechanism comprising a lower manifold block on said turretand provided with an annular groove in its upper surface, an upperstationary manifold block on said pedestal and provided with an annulargroove in its under surface complimentary to said upper groove, meansfor maintaining an air tight seal between said upper and lower manifoldblocks, inlet means extending through said upper manifold block to saidupper groove and means connecting said lower groove with said deliverypipe of said bulb holding head.

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